It's cold – but it's been colder: A look back at the coldest days in Hampton Roads history

In January 1985, Hampton Roads dropped below zero for the only time in recorded history

David Brown of Hampton replaces a carbureator in his Maverick which went… (Daily Press archive / )

January 06, 2014|By Mike Holtzclaw, mholtzclaw@dailypress.com

You think this is cold? Pshaw.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the teens across Hampton Roads today. Some inland areas — such as Wakefield, Franklin and the more remote parts of Isle of Wight County — will likely drop below 10 degrees. Wind chills across the region are expected to be well below zero. In fact, the National Weather Service took the rare step of issuing a "wind chill advisory" for the region.

So put on your long johns and your heaviest coat, and grab your scarf and gloves — but don't go thinking that we'll be setting any records for low temperatures in Hampton Roads. The coldest recorded temperature in this area came on Jan. 21, 1985, when we hit minus-3 degrees. That was the only time Hampton Roads temperatures — generally measured in Norfolk — have fallen below zero since the National Weather Service began keeping records in Norfolk in 1874.

That day also marked the coldest recorded temperature in state history: minus-30 at Mountain Lake. It was part of an East Coast freeze-out that forced President Ronald Reagan to move his second inauguration ceremony indoors.

WTKR-TV meteorologist Patrick Rockey, who grew up in Newport News, remembers that bitter cold day very well. He also recalls Christmas 1983, when temperatures dropped to 7 degrees.

"I remember we were trying to go over to a friend's house, but the windows in the car kept freezing," Rockey said. "The defroster couldn't keep up. It wasn't very far to go, but it took forever because we had to keep stopping and scraping the ice off the windshield."

According to data recorded by the National Weather Service, there have only been about two dozen dates in the past 125 years when temperatures in Hampton Roads have dropped into single-digits.

On Feb. 8, 1895 — during the fine times of President Grover Cleveland's second administration — temperatures in the Tidewater area dropped to 2 degrees, still the second-coldest day in the region's recorded history. Four years later on Valentine's Day, the thermometers registered 3 degrees.

Of course, there are no records of precise temperatures in the region before the late 19th century. But Thomas Jefferson, a reliable source in anyone's book, described a day in January 1780 when "the York River was frozen over so that people walked across it."

That happened again in January 1857, when the Chesapeake Bay froze over more than a mile out from the shore. On that date, one publication reported that a bartender set up shop on the Elizabeth River, halfway between Portsmouth and Norfolk, and sold mint juleps to folks who were walking across the water.

The last time the region's rivers froze came in the winter of 1917-18, when temperatures in late December and early January dropped to 5 degrees. When a tug got stuck in the James River, crew members were able to scramble off the boat and walk to shore.

According to National Weather Service records, after 1918 another 64 years passed before Hampton Roads saw single-digit temperatures — on Jan. 10, 1985, when it dropped to 7 degrees.

So today we will be in the low teens. Even if it doesn't freeze rivers or break regional records, it will be very, very cold.

But don't worry. It won't last long.

"Because this is Virginia, we'll be back up to 60 by the weekend," Rockey said with a laugh. "On Wednesday it's going to be in the 30s. If you look at it by itself, that looks pretty cold, but after Tuesday's temperatures it's going to feel almost tropical."

Cold hard facts

Here are some of the coldest recorded temperatures in Hampton Roads history, according to the National Weather Service: